St. Paul Calendar

Color: Green

Old Testament: Isaiah 55:10–13
Psalm: Psalm 65:9–13; antiphon: v. 5
Psalm: Psalm 65; antiphon: v. 5
Epistle: Romans 8:12–17
Gospel: Matthew 13:1–9, 18–23
Introit: Psalm 103:15–19; antiphon: v. 8
Gradual: Romans 11:33, 36
Verse: Isaiah 40:8

The Preaching of the Word of Christ Bears the Good Fruits of Faith and Love
 
As “the rain and the snow come down from heaven” and “water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout” (Is. 55:10), so the Word of God accomplishes the purpose for which He speaks it, granting joy and peace through the forgiveness of sins and producing the fruits of faith and love in those who are called by His name. Christ Jesus, the incarnate Word, has established the name of the Lord as “an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off” (Is. 55:13). He opens our ears to hear, our minds to understand and our hearts to believe His Word, lest the evil one come and snatch it away. He thus transforms our rocky hearts into good soil, which clings to the Gospel and “indeed bears fruit” (Matt. 13:23). He is Himself the firstfruits of all who “have received the Spirit of adoption as sons” (Rom. 8:15). Thus being “led by the Spirit of God,” we are not afraid, but we cry out in faith to our Father in heaven (Rom. 8:14–15). For as we suffer with Christ, the beloved Son, so shall we “also be glorified with him” (Rom. 8:17).

Lectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Green

Old Testament: Isaiah 44:6–8
Psalm: Psalm 119:57–64; antiphon: v. 89
Epistle: Romans 8:18–27
Gospel: Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43
Introit: Psalm 86:11–15; antiphon: v. 6
Gradual: Romans 11:33, 36
Verse: Matthew 13:35b

The Word of the Gospel Bestows the Righteousness of Christ and Brings Forth Faith
 
The good Seed, which is “the Son of Man,” Jesus Himself (Matt. 13:37), brings forth a harvest of faith and bears good fruits in “the sons of the kingdom” (Matt. 13:38). Whatever is sown apart from His Word is of the devil, who plants the weeds of unbelief and sin, even among the people of God. Thankfully, the Lord is patient and He does not uproot the weeds, lest the plants also be destroyed. He lets “both grow together until the harvest” (Matt. 13:30), while He continues to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins. Thus, He preserves His Church in righteousness, because He alone is “the King of Israel and his Redeemer” (Is. 44:6). Since all things are in His gracious care and keeping, “fear not, nor be afraid” (Is. 44:8). For “the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God” (Rom. 8:19), and in this hope we also wait with patience. Though we do not yet see it, “the Spirit helps us in our weakness” (Rom. 8:26) and, in truth, “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18). 

Lectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: White

Old Testament: Proverbs 31:10–31
Psalm: Psalm 73:23–28; antiphon: v. 1
Second Reading: Acts 13:26–31
Gospel: John 20:1–2, 10–18
Introit: Psalm 30:1a, 2–3, 12b; antiphon: Psalm 31:1a
Gradual: Psalm 45:10; John 10:11b, 10b, 3b, 16c
Verse: John 20:18a

St. Mary Magdalene
 
“An excellent wife who can find?” (Prov. 31:10). The Lord’s love does not search out what is lovely. Instead, His love seeks out sinners and dies for them, washes them clean, and presents them to Himself as a spotless bride (Ephesians 5). Christ had no wife on earth; His bride is the Church — the assembly of forgiven sinners rescued by His death and resurrection. Among them is St. Mary Magdalene, one “who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem” (Acts 13:31). The Lord rescued her from the power of seven demons, and she provided for Him out of her means (Luke 8:2–3). Christians have traditionally connected her with the unnamed penitent woman who was forgiven much by faith and thus “loved much” by anointing Jesus’ feet (Luke 7:36–50). She was there at Christ’s death, present at His burial and honored as the first witness of His resurrection. She would have clung to Him there in the garden, but the Lord had “not yet ascended” to His Father and our Father (John 20:16–18) to “fill all things” (Eph. 4:10). For now He is heard in the Word of His witnesses and is here bodily in His Supper, not just for Mary, but for all penitents “who [fear] the Lord” (Prov. 31:30), so that grace may abound “all the more” (Rom. 5:20).

Lectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Red

First Reading: Acts 11:27—12:5
Psalm: Psalm 56; antiphon: v. 4
Epistle: Romans 8:28–39
Gospel: Mark 10:35–45
Introit: Psalm 89:1, 5, 15–16; antiphon: Psalm 119:46
Gradual: Romans 10:15b, 18b; Isaiah 52:7b, alt.
Verse: Mark 10:45

St. James the Elder, Apostle
 
The sons of Zebedee ask for seats at Jesus’ “right hand and … left, in your glory” (Mark 10:37). But they do not know what they are asking (Matt. 20:22), for God’s kingdom is not of glory and power but the cross. We will bear ours after Him. “For [His] sake we are being killed” and “regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” But “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him” (Rom. 8:36–37), for Jesus’ death is unique. He alone is baptized with our sin and drinks the cup of God’s wrath against it (Mark 10:38). We live in service to our neighbors after His example; He alone is “the Son of Man,” who came “to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Today the Church commemorates the fulfillment of Christ’s prophecy about James, killed with Herod’s sword (Acts 12:2). He is honored as the first apostle to be “conformed to the image of [God’s] Son” (Rom. 8:29). But what is that when “Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God … interceding for us”? Nothing (not even a sword) can “separate” James and “us from the love of Christ” (Rom. 8:34–35).

Lectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Green

Old Testament: Deuteronomy 7:6–9
Psalm: Psalm 125; antiphon: v. 2
Epistle: Romans 8:28–39
Gospel: Matthew 13:44–52
Introit: Psalm 105:2–6; antiphon: v. 1
Gradual: Romans 11:33, 36
Verse: Matthew 13:35b

The Son of God Has Redeemed Us for Himself with His Holy and Precious Blood
 
The Lord our God has chosen us to be “his treasured possession,” not because of any strength in us, but solely “because the Lord loves” us (Deut. 7:6–8). He is faithful, and He “keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments” (Deut. 7:9). He has searched for us and found us in love, and He has bestowed on us “great value” by the great price that He has paid on the cross (Matt. 13:45–46). In His joy, He has redeemed us by His cross and gathered us into His kingdom by the Gospel. Now we are “hidden in a field,” covered by the cross and subject to the persecution of the world (Matt. 13:44), not for destruction, but “to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29). Since we “are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28), and because Christ Jesus died, rose again and lives to intercede for us “at the right hand of God” (Rom. 8:34), there is nothing in all creation that can separate us from “the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:39).

Lectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship